Day Seven

Got up. Watched a bit of Olympic tennis. Had waffles for breakfast. The first hotel so far to have a waffle iron. Result.

Packed up and headed north. There was no direct route via Interstates so we spent most of the day on smaller roads. Although this made the journey slightly slower it meant there was a lot more to see on the road. It was much more entertaining.

First up we came up with a name for a character in a play when we passed the hilariously named Sharon Baptistchurch.

On that note we also saw this if ever you need a miracle.

Lord above!

Also noticed it must be Forrest Gump Friday as everybody we saw was out on their ride on mower cutting the grass. I am talking everybody, not one or two, but everybody.

Had an amazing experience when we had to drive around a roundabout. What the hell?!

Saw a Pepsi bottling plant. They are obviously using new techniques these days.

No caption needed

Stopped for lunch at a Subway. Got our order, went to pay. Credit card declined. What the ...? She tried again. Still declined.

Spent the next part of the journey wondering why it would be declined. Hatched plan to check if it was really or if the Subway was just rubbish. Got to Edenton, North Carolina. Arrived at the Granville Queen Inn. Checked in. As we hadn't paid for the room yet we asked them to try the card as payment to see if it worked. It didn't.

http://www.granvillequeen.com/




Dumped our stuff and headed out to McDonalds to use the free internet as the B and B appeared not to have any. Skyped mum and she went and checked our phone messages. Was one from card company asking us to call them. She gave us the number. We called. They unfroze the card. Sorted.

Went out for a wander around downtown Edenton.

The riverfront at Edenton

Another storm approached. They seem to follow us. This one never really developed.

Had dinner in a place called 309 Bistro. Was nice. Ann said it was the best crab cake she had ever had. Credit card worked.

Made our way back to room. Found there is internet access but is very weak. At least I may be able to get this uploaded. Ann inevitably has found Independance Day on TV.  'Welcome to Earth'

Tomorrow we head inland.

States visited - Four

Day Six

Got up, had breakfast, checked out of the hotel. Paid someone money to bring our car back even though it's their job. Will never understand that. Got in car and drove.

Left Georgia and headed into South Carolina. Not much to say about it. It has lots of trees.

Saw this sign.

No thanks

Left South Carolina and entered North Carolina. Slightly less trees. After a four hour stint of driving we stopped for lunch and fuel in Chadbourn. Got asked about our accents. Said we came from England. One girl asked us if we had driven or flown. Resisted the temptation to say yes we have driven from England under the Atlantic Ocean. Said we had flown to Miami and had driven up and we were on our way to Maine. She then said 'Couldn't you land any closer to where you wanted to go?' Stopped answering questions at that point.

Had lunch and then carried on driving. Listened to a fair bit of radio. Ann got annoyed with me making up my own lyrics to country and western songs.  Arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina at 4pm. Checked in to the hotel. Dumped our stuff. Headed out. Only one thing we wanted to see here while we stopped over.

Having served in WW2 the USS North Carolina was decommissioned in 1947 only 6 years after being commissioned. Then in 1960, the US Navy announced its intention to scrap her. The people of North Carolina campaigned to have the ship moved to the state to preserve her.

It was a self guiding tour, so basically you got to wander around the ship above and below deck. Got to see nearly the entire ship. Really interesting but very warm. Sweated quite alot. Ann got carried away.

Fire

 Did quite like the dentist's room.

Open and say ahhhhhhhhhh!

Then as we were leaving we saw something else quite interesting.

Massive storm came in. Ran away to the hotel.

Now we are going to bed with a little bit more travelling to do tomorrow.

States visited - Four

Day Five

Went to bed last night quite annoyed as the hotel's internet wasn't working so couldn't post the blog that I'd written. Woke up slightly less annoyed but protested by not getting up early and having a swim.

Had breakfast in the hotel. Read the paper USA Today whilst eating. It said that Britons were getting annoyed as we hadn't won any gold medals. Got back to the room to find out that we had won our first.

Made our way to the ticket booth for Old Town Trolley tours. Bought tickets and waited for the trolley. It is basically a small bus with open sides so you can see things. One turned up. Got on. The driver told us he was called Hollywood. Said it was good for getting girls at high school as he used to say to them 'If you want to be a star you gotta go to Hollywood'.

Trolley went around the town. Hollywood told us about various things. He kept calling Ann 'England'. He said I looked like a lawyer. Was enjoying the journey. Then suddenly we all had to get off and change trolleys. Got on another. The driver was a woman called something. She wasn't as entertaining as Hollywood. Tour was ok, but didn't really go into any depth. It did enable us to see most of the old town without walking. Tour finished.

We had a bit of time to spare so we went for lunch. Went to a place by the river called Bernie's Oyster House.

http://berniesoysterhouse.com/riverstreet.htm

Food was good. Watched the Jubilympics whilst eating. Got asked about our accents. Noticed a story on the news that a severed head has been found by the Hollywood sign.

Made our way to get our cruise ship boarding pass. Got on ship which was in the style of a old paddle steamer. It was going to take us up the Savannah river.

It turned out to be not quite what we had expected. Savannah is the third busiest port in the USA. The tour turned out to be about the port and stuff. We thought it would go up the river away from the port. It didn't. Did go under a big bridge.

A bridge too far

They talked about the famous Florence Martus known as The Waving Girl of Savannah. She apparently waved at every ship that entered the port for forty four years. Get a life, love.

Having watched some of the Jubilympics earlier we were also treated to this little beauty.

Eternal Flame

Savannah held the some of the sailing events during the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and this was the cauldron that held the Olympic flame here.

Having got off the ship we wandered back to the hotel. Decided that as it was quite hot, about 92 degrees we felt like a swim. Went up to the hotel pool which is on the roof. Had swim. Was delightful. Went back to room to relax.

In the evening we went out for dinner. Wandered around looking for a place to eat. Settled on Anna's.

Tapas by Anna

Sat inside as it was still very warm. Ann commented that it looked like we were eating in someone's garage. Food was good though.

Having eaten we decided for dessert to head over to Leopolds again as we had enjoyed it so much last night. Did order slightly less this time. After I had asked for a chocolate shake, the girl who I asked turned to one of her co-workers and said 'Can I have a chocolate shake' in a Dick Van Dyke style Mawy Poppins accent. We then had a long chat with another girl who was serving us mostly about accents and how you pronounce 'charades' - charaids or charards.

Managed to eat all of the ice cream again. Is the best place in the world.

Waddled back to the hotel to find that the Internet had been fixed and that I can now get on with this.

Tomorrow we move on.

States visited - 2

Day Four

Got up and had breakfast in the hotel then packed ready to head north.

Got straight onto I-95. Had text conversation with Kevin Green, Ermington CC’s vice captain. He and his family are staying near Orlando and they were heading to Daytona Beach today. We were passing Daytona on our way north. By the time we passed by, they were already at the beach. Did see the Daytona Race Track.

Had sudden thought that driving in Florida was like the 80s computer game Outrun.

Stopped for fuel and lunch at a place called Yulee, which is at the very top of Florida. Had Subway sandwiches.

Cracked on and soon crossed the border into Georgia. Motored on up and soon we were arriving in Savannah. Checked into hotel and then sat down for a bit.

We then headed out for an early evening stroll. Headed to Bull Street and then wandered down to a small square. We are now going to have a film quiz. Look at the picture. Do you recognise it? If you don’t, then I will tell you later.

Any Idea?

More on that later. We carried on wandering about looking at some interesting buildings such as this one.

Theatre

We then decided to stop by Leopold’s Ice Cream.

http://www.leopoldsicecream.com/

Seemed like a good idea. I ordered some Mocha Chocolate chip and double chocolate chip ice cream and a chocolate milkshake. Ann had a Hot Fudge Sundae with Butter Pecan and Vanilla ice cream plus a strawberry milkshake. Both the milkshakes had about 3 scoops of ice cream in as well.

Sundae Bloody Sundae

By the time we had finished we felt very fat. Ann gave up on her milkshake so I had to make sure none went to waste. Decided that instead of starting the Pancake Bungalow back home we would create a 1950s diner/ice cream parlour with a proper jukebox and stuff.

Now to help you out with the film quiz, I shot a quick video that may help you get the answer.

We then had to walk off the bloatedness so went for a stroll down by the Savannah River on the aptly named River Street. Saw a massive ship go by.

It was sort of like the Barbican in Plymouth except it was lovely and warm and there were no English people getting tanked up on booze. A very pleasant end to the day.

Now if you still are struggling on the quiz, this is the answer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7voy1vit6Y

When we got back to the hotel it was on TV. Magic. Ann is now sleeping off the ice cream and I am trying to burn calories by typing fast.

Tomorrow we will explore more of this picturesque city.

States visited - 2

Day Three

Woke up just before 7am and headed straight for the pool. Another quiet dip which was very nice. Bigger and straighter pool allowed for better swimming. Back to the room and ready to go out by 9am.

Headed across the way to an IHOP for breakfast. Ann had some granola with bananas, strawberries and blueberries and I had pancakes. A good start.

We then headed directly east towards the Kennedy Space Centre. We had to cross the Indian River on the way to Merritt Island where the centre is. On arrival we made our way to the entrance and then had a choice to make about what kind of tour we wanted. We weren't quite sure but made an educated guess about what we wanted to see. I can tell you now that we made the right decision.

We got in to the centre about 11am and our tour didn't start until 12pm, so we wandered around a bit to pass the time.  Saw the Shuttle Launch Experience building so thought we'd give it a go. We had to put all our belongings into a locker before entering, which made us wonder what kind of experience it was going to be. We went in and then watched various videos in different rooms in the lead up to the launch. They were quite loud to the point that a little girl was screaming in agony at the noise. Wondered why her parents had brought her into the experience in the first place. Decided it was because they were stupid. Finally, we had to line up next to the simulator and wait to enter. Ann then told me she didn't want to go in. Told her to shut up and get on with it. Luckily there weren't many people in our group so we had a row of seats to ourselves. Went in, sat down and put seat belt on. Man made sure we were strapped in. Then he left. The pod we were sat in then tipped up vertically so we were sat looking upwards. More videos and countdowns until the point we took off. Then the whole thing shook quite alot for quite along time as the video showed everything that was happening and where you were in the flight. According to one former astronaut it is the closest thing to a real launch that he has ever been in. Made your face and neck feel very fat. When we finished Ann thanked me for making her go on it as it was her childhood dream to be an Astronaut.

Then it was time for the tour. We still weren't sure what to expect but just went and lined up and waited for the bus. Once we were aboard off we went. First we headed out on to the NASA Causeway which goes across the Banana River towards Cape Canaveral Airforce base. We stopped halfway so we could see an overview of the places where we were going. Started to get annoyed with other people on the bus who kept talking whilst the guide was speaking. They were mostly foreign. Told them to shut up. The first proper port of call was the Vehicle Assembly Building. You might recognise it. It is the place where they put the various parts of the craft - boosters, rockets, ship - together. Therefore it is very big. Apparently it is something like the fourth biggest building in the world in terms of cubic volume.

Its roof is an acre in size!

We then stopped and got to go inside.

Looking up

As you can imagine it is immense in size. The guide then said he had two special guests. One was a NASA worker who was going to talk to us for a while, the other was a lady who was happy to have her picture taken. He said if you come around this corner you can can snap away. We walked around the corner.

The lady in question was Atlantis. A real live space shuttle. Been in space and everything. Knew at this point we had made the right choice of tour. It was the only one that came inside this building so we were extremely pleased.

Back on the bus and we headed out to two launch pads. Next to the normal road was the largest single track road I have ever seen. It was about 200 feet across. A machine called a crawler carries the fully built Space Shuttle plus the launch platform out to the pad along the road. It moves at under 1mph, not suprising as it is carrying nearly 5500 tonnes.

The first launch pad we stopped at was 39A which is the most famous one. All the Apollo missions were launched from it as well as a lot of the space shuttle ones.

39A

Next was 39B. It is more infamous than famous. It is the launch pad that Challenger took off from in 1986 when it exploded about 70secs after take off.

39B

We now headed back to Saturn 5 centre, where the tour ended. On our way, we spotted out first alligator of the trip. The whole island is a protected area so there is an abundance of wildlife.

You can just see the head in the middle of the picture.

Most people on the bus were more excited about seeing an alligator than anything to do with space.

When we arrived at the Saturn V centre we watched a short video before moving into the actual control room that oversaw the take off of Apollo 8. Then a video sequence gave you the experience of being in the room at the time of take off. Even the windows shook.

Was pretty cool. We then headed into a big room which had an actual Saturn V rocket in it. They are the rockets which powered the Apollo missions.  To give you the scale of size I made Ann stand next to it.

Big Unit

We then decided to get some lunch. As we went to pay for it, I decided to throw my lunch and drink on the floor. Made a bit of a mess. Felt rather silly. The cashier laughed and and said 'I'm sorry for laughing, but that is really funny.' Got some more lunch. We sat outside. There were some dinosaur looking birds mooching about trying to steal peoples' food. Big signs said 'Don't Feed the Birds'. Watched a boy feed the birds as his parents sat there. Thought are people just completely thick?

After lunch caught a bus back to the main visitor centre. Decided to go in the big shop before we left. Bought some freeze dried ice-cream space food. Am eating it now in fact. Very nice. Ann bought a hat.

We left the space centre and headed back across the Indian river to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Went in and wandered about a bit. It generally had the same sort of stuff as the main centre. Unfortunately whilst in there a big mother of a thunderstorm rolled in. Quite spectacular. On leaving ran very fast to the car. Got wet feet. Stopped at Subway on the way back to the hotel to get some tea. Ate it watching Top Gear.

Just seen Tom Daley fail on American TV.

Could tell you so much more about all the interesting facts we learnt today, but can't be bothered as this is already far too long. Going to bed now. Tomorrow we are heading north.

States visited - One.

Day Two

Woke up early this morning and decided to make the most of it by having a 7am swim in the motel pool. It was lovely and quiet and we watched the sunrise as we swam. Only company we had was a squirrel which was rooting its way through the bin by the pool.

Wandered out onto the small pier which went out into the nearby water. Saw a crab wandering along it.

The small pier

The motel from the pier

After breakfast and some skyping we packed up and got into the big car ready to start our days journey. We headed north on Highway 1 and after a while we switched over onto I-95. Stopped at an IHOP for lunch. We both had some quality pancakes. Decided that we are going to set up the equivalent chain back home called The Pancake Bungalow. Carried on heading north until we reached Titusville. Our first stop was at the Warbirds Museum.

http://www.vacwarbirds.org/

It is a place dedicated to the American Airforce and has lots of planes. We went inside and had a look around the nice exhibits before heading into the hangers to see the planes. One of the guides said he'd show us around so he took us on a tour. Now, I have been hot in my life, but I don't think I have experienced a heat quite like the one inside the hangers. Occasionally we got a bit of relief with an air conditioned room but boy was it hot. My knees started sweating. Ann said her eyes were sweating.

The Tico Belle

It was really interesting but by the end we just wanted to stand somewhere cold. Did you know, for example, George Bush Snr was shot down by the Japanese in World War 2 and, but for a US submarine in the area, would have been captured by a ruthless General who was renowned for killing his POWs.

A Huey helicopter made famous by the Vietnam War

We did happen to see the smallest plane in the world taking off. It is owned by a guy who works in the museum and he flies it in as it uses less gas than his car. It looked like a kids toy, but down the runway it went and off up into the distance. Having finished the enjoyable but ultra warm tour we decided to move on.

We headed to our hotel which is the Holiday Inn in Titusville. Very nice place. Very nice room. Sat for a while in the comfort of the air conned room. Headed out to Subway to get some tea and went back to the hotel to eat it. Watched Independence Day again.

Then fell asleep. Woke up and thought I'd better do the blog. Ann helped out by falling asleep and staying asleep.

Tomorrow we are going to the Kennedy Space Centre. Sounds good.

Before I go, here is the car as promised. It is a GMC Acadia if you are interested. Which you are probably not. Also I have remembered that I love driving in the US. It is great.

Unit

States Visited - One

Amendment to Day One

Forgot to mention that when we arrived at the motel last night, I started fiddling with buttons in the car to see what they did. Pressed one and it started ringing. Tried in vain to stop it. Man answered the other end.

'Please state the nature of your emergency'
'I don't have one. It rang itself'
'OK. Well we'll be here if you need us'

Panic over!!